Religious vows are the publicvows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views.
In theBuddhist tradition, in particular within theMahayana andVajrayana traditions, many different kinds of religious vows are taken by the lay community as well as by the monastic community, as they progress along the path of their practice. In the monastic tradition of all schools of Buddhism, theVinaya expounds the vows of the fully ordained Nuns and Monks.
In theChristian tradition, such public vows are made by the religious – cenobitic anderemitic – of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, Anglican Communion, and Eastern Orthodox Churches, whereby they confirm their public profession of theevangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience orBenedictine equivalent. The vows are regarded as the individual's free response to a call by God to followJesus Christ more closely under the action of theHoly Spirit in a particular form ofreligious living. A person who lives a religious life according to vows they have made is called avotary or avotarist. The religious vow, being a public vow, is binding inChurch law. One of its effects is that the person making it ceases to be free to marry. In the Catholic Church, by joining the consecrated life, one does not become a member of thehierarchy but becomes a member of a state of life which is neitherclerical norlay, the consecrated state.[1] Nevertheless, the members of the religious orders and those hermits who are inHoly Orders are members of thehierarchy.[2]
Since the 6th century,monks andnuns following theRule of Saint Benedict have been making the Benedictine vow at their publicprofession of obedience (placing oneself under the direction of the abbot/abbess or prior/prioress), stability (committing oneself to a particular monastery), and "conversion of manners" (which includes celibate chastity and forgoing private ownership).[3]
During the 12th and 13th centuriesmendicant orders emerged, such as theFranciscans andDominicans, whose vocation emphasizing mobility and flexibility required them to drop the concept of "stability". They thereforeprofesschastity, poverty and obedience, like the members of many other orders and religious congregations founded subsequently. The publicprofession of theevangelical counsels (orcounsels of perfection), confirmed by vow or other sacred bond, are a requirement according to Church Law.[4]
The "clerks regular" of the 16th century and after, such as theJesuits andRedemptorists, followed this same general format, though some added a "fourth vow", indicating some special apostolate or attitude within the order. Fully professed Jesuits (known as "the professed of the fourth vow" within the order), take a vow of particular obedience to thePope to undertake any mission laid out in their Formula of the Institute.Poor Clares additionally profess a vow ofenclosure. TheMissionaries of Charity, founded bySt. Teresa of Calcutta centuries later (1940s) take a fourth vow of special service to "the poorest of the poor".
In theCatholic Church, the vows of members of religious orders and congregations are regulated by canons 654-658 of theCode of Canon Law. These are public vows, meaning vows accepted by a superior in the name of the Church,[5] and they are usually of two durations: temporary, and, after a few years, final vows (permanent or "perpetual"). Depending on the order, temporary vows may be renewed a number of times before permission to take final vows is given. There are exceptions: theJesuits' first vows are perpetual, for instance, and theSisters of Charity take only temporary but renewable vows.
Religious vows are of two varieties:simple vows andsolemn vows. The highest level of commitment is exemplified by those who have taken their solemn, perpetual vows. There once were significant technical differences between them incanon law; but these differences were suppressed by the currentCode of Canon Law in 1983, although the nominal distinction is maintained. Only a limited number of religious congregations may invite their members to solemn vows; most religious congregations are only authorized to take simple vows. Even in congregations with solemn vows, some members with perpetual vows may have taken them simply rather than solemnly.
A perpetual vow can be superseded by the pope, when he decides that a man under perpetual vows should become a bishop of the Church. In these cases, the ties to the order the new bishop had are dissolved as if the bishop had never been a member; hence, such a person asPope Francis, for example, has had no formal ties to his old order for years. However, if the bishop was a member in good standing, he will be regarded, informally, as "one of us", and he will always be welcome in any of the order's houses.
There are other forms ofconsecrated life in the Catholic Church for both men and women. They make a public profession of theevangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience, confirmed by a vow or other sacred bond, regulated bycanon law but live consecrated lives in the world (i.e. not as members of areligious institute). Such are thesecular institutes, thediocesan hermits (canon 603) and theconsecrated virgins (canon 604). These make a public profession of the evangelical counsels by a vow or other sacred bond. Also similar are thesocieties of apostolic life. Diocesan hermits individually profess the three evangelical counsels in the hands of their local ordinary. Consecrated virgins living in the world do not make religious vows, but express by a public so-calledsanctum propositum ("holy purpose")[6] to follow Christ more closely. The prayer of consecration that constitutes such virgins "sacred persons" inserts them into the Ordo Virginum and likewise places them in the consecrated life in the Catholic Church.
Evangelical-Lutheran religious orders, suchDaughters of Mary (sisters who have a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary), andThe Congregation of the Servants of Christ (monks who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict), takesolemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.[7]
Although the taking of vows was not a part of the earliest monastic foundations (the wearing of a particular monastic habit is the earliest recorded manifestation of those who had left the world), vows did come to be accepted as a normal part of thetonsure service in the Christian East. Previously, one would simply find aspiritual father and live under his direction. Once one put on the monastic habit, it was understood that one had made a lifetime commitment to God and would remain steadfast in it to the end. Over time, however, the formal Tonsure and taking of vows was adopted to impress upon the monastic the seriousness of the commitment to the ascetic life he or she was adopting.
The vows taken by Orthodox monks are: Chastity, poverty, obedience, and stability. The vows are administered by theabbot orhieromonk who performs the service. Following a period of instruction and testing as a novice, a monk or nun may be tonsured with the permission of the candidate's spiritual father. There are three degrees of monasticism in the Orthodox Church: Theryassaphore (one who wears theryassa – however, there are no vows at this level – the Stavrophore (one who wears the cross), and the Schema-monk (one who wears theGreat Schema; i.e., the full monastic habit). The one administering the tonsure must be an ordained priest, and must be a monk of at least the rank he is tonsuring the candidate into. However, aBishop (who, in the Orthodox Church, must always be a monk) may tonsure a monk or nun into any degree regardless of his own monastic rank.
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Jainism teaches five ethical duties, which it calls five vows. These are calledanuvratas (small vows) for Jain laypersons, andmahavratas (great vows) for Jain mendicants.[8] For both, its moral precepts preface that the Jain has access to aguru (teacher, counsellor),deva (Jina, god), doctrine, and that the individual is free from five offences: doubts about the faith, indecisiveness about the truths of Jainism, sincere desire for Jain teachings, recognition of fellow Jains, and admiration for their spiritual pursuits.[9] Such a person undertakes the following Five vows of Jainism:
Jainism also prescribes seven supplementary vows, including threeguņa vratas (merit vows) and fourśikşā vratas.[16][17] TheSallekhana (orSanthara) vow is a "religious death" ritual vow observed at the end of life, historically by Jain monks and nuns, but rare in the modern age.[18] In this vow, there is voluntary and gradual reduction of food and liquid intake to end one's life by choice and with dispassion,[19][20] In Jainism this is believed to reduce negative karma that affects a soul's future rebirths.[21]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
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